‘Proxy Voting’ in Meghalaya, Probe Ordered, Officials Replaced

An incident of proxy voting has been detected at a polling station in Nongthymmai constituency in East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya on Monday.

The polling station is located at Mizo Modern High School in Nongrim Hills.

The incident came to light after a voter named Bikram Kumar Rai found that someone else by the same name had voted, the matter was taken up by the election officials who assured action of replacing the poll officials.

Accordingly, the officials of the polling booth in Nongthymmai constituency have been replaced after a case of illegal proxy voting was detected there.

A complaint was made to the Chief Electoral Officer, FR Kharkongor, and the East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner, SC Sadhu, who is also the District Election Officer, then rushed to the polling station to verify the incident.

Following the incident, the election officer, East Khasi Hills has ordered a probe into a proxy voting case at Mizo Modern High School polling station.

 “We are enquiring into the matter”, Deputy Commissioner SC Sadhu said on Monday.

Meanwhile, Rai was allowed to vote under the ‘Tender Vote’ procedure, however, questions are being raised on how there can be a proxy vote in the electronic age linger.

Polling is currently being underway at 3,419 polling stations across 59 Assembly constituencies in the state and the voting will continue till 4 PM.

More than 2,160,000 people are eligible to cast their vote.

As many as 640 polling booths have been categorised as “vulnerable” and 323 as “critical”. A total of 369 candidates, including 36 women candidates, are in the fray.

Out of 60 Assembly constituencies in Meghalaya, 36 constituencies fall in Khasi, Jaintia Hills region while 24 are in Garo Hills region.

It may also be noted that polling for the Sohiong Assembly constituency was postponed following the demise of the state's former Home Minister and United Democratic Party (UDP) candidate from the seat HDR Lyngdoh.

In the wake of the election, the Election Commission of India has deployed 119 companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) in Meghalaya.

Meanwhile, till 1 pm voter turnout in Meghalaya was recorded 44.73%.

Also Read: Meghalaya Elections 2023 Live: Will Going Solo Help BJP Win?